Last month, Vanguard racks in over $20 billion dollars in inflow once again while BlackRock, its closest competitor, follows behind with over $10 billion dollars in inflows.

F. William McNabb The Vanguard Group Out-Going CEO

Chicago-based investment research specialist Morningstar released its "Morningstar Direct Asset Flows Commentary United States" report for July 2017. Alina Lamy, senior analyst of quantitative research, penned the report. (An abridged version of the report is publicly accessible, while the full report appendices are available to Morningstar Direct Users.)

The King of Mutual Funds, Vanguard, came in first, for the third month in a row, with a total of $21.666 billion in net open-end mutual fund and ETF inflows, M* estimates. Yet, Vanguards' inflows last month were about $3.975 billion less than its inflows in June and $14.212 billion less than its inflows in May. Coming in second was BlackRock, driven largely by its iShares ETF Business, with $14.185 billion in estimated net inflows, down $7.768 billion from June. Other big winners in July included: SSgA, who was third place once again, with estimated net inflows of $3.269 billion; DFA, with estimated net inflows of $3.262 billion; and Pimco, with estimated net inflows of $2.636 billion.

The winner last month for ETF and mutual fund inflows on a relative basis (among the biggest fund firms) was Schwab with estimated inflows that were 2.35 percent of its total AUM. Guggenheim came in second with 1.56 percent and following close behind were AllianceBernstein, with 1.43 percent, and Harris' Oakmark with 1.36 percent.

On the flip side, despite a majority of the biggest fund firms experiencing inflows, roughly 41 percent still experienced outflows. T. Rowe Price suffered estimated net outflows of $3.565 billion for the month of July which was $303 million more than June. Following behind was Franklin Templeton, with $1.873 billion in estimated net outflows. Other fund firms that suffered the biggest outflows for the month of July included: Wells Fargo, with $1.424 billion; J.P. Morgan, with $1.072 billion; and Columbia Threadneedle, with $861 million.

The big fund firms that suffered the biggest relative outflows in regards to its AUM was Wells Fargo with estimated net outflows that were 1.55 percent of its total AUM. Coming in second was MainStay, with 1.14 percent, and following that was Harbor Capital, with 1.02 percent.

Industry wide, long-term, active mutual funds generated estimated net inflows of $1.333 billion in the month of July. This is a decrease of $425 million compared to the month of June. The inflows in passive funds also decreased from $56.41 billion in June to $47.01 billion in July. Money Market funds took the biggest hit last month, experiencing estimated net outflows of $64.825 billion.

within long term active mutual funds, taxable bond funds brought in an estimated $13.624 billion in inflows. International equity funds brought in an estimated $7.083 billion; municipal bond funds brought in an estimated 2.481 billion; commodities funds brought in an estimated $1.007 billion; and alternative funds brought in an estimated $10 million.

Meanwhile, long term, active U.S. equity funds dipped last month with estimated net outflows of $19.627 billion. Allocation funds had estimated net outflows of $2.798 billion and Sector Equity funds have estimated net outflows of $446 million.  

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